Question | Answer |
Adaptation | A physical trait that allows an organism to survive in their environment. Such a fur on a bear for warmth in the winter months. |
Instinctual Behavior | An inherited behavior that is done automatically. |
Learned Behavior | Learning a behavior, such a learning how to swim, can help an animal survive in their environment. This type of behavior can become a habit. |
Habitual Behavior | A repeated behavior, such as a bird returning to a bird feeder to get food, can help an animal survive in their environment. |
Fossils | Proof or evidence about how living things and environmental conditions have changed. |
Catastrophic Events | Volcanic eruptions, tsunami, tornado, earthquake, floods, asteroid impact can all cause the elimination of species due to changes in environmental conditions. |
Camouflage | The ability to blend in with the environment to protect from being hunted or to hunt for food. |
Evolve | To change over time; like a tadpole changes into a frog over time. |
Disruptive Coloration | A pattern that makes it hard to see the outline of an object, like the black and white pattern of a zebra helps the species to blend in the background. |
Predator | The species that hunts in a relationship, like a lion is the predator of a gazelle or zebra. |
Countershading | A mixture of two colors to blend in with the surrounding environment. Like the black and white color of a penguin. Above, the black color allows the penguin to blend in with dark water. Below, the white color helps the penguin blend in with the sky. |
Chromatophores | Specialized skin cells that allow the species to blend in - like a chameleon turns green to blend in with grass. |
Mood | Using color changing abilities to communicate an emotion. Like an iguana may turn red and orange to show anger. |
Migration | To move where the climate is warmer or to a location where more food is available.For example, monarch butterflies migrate from Michigan to Mexico during winter months. |
Habit | Performing the same behavior over and over to survive better; like writing in your assignment notebook to remember to do your homework makes you a better student. |
Hibernation | A state of dormancy or rest for a season where the bodies activities slow down. Wasps hibernate in the winter months in their nest. |
Dormancy | To be sleeping or like falling asleep. |
Metabolism | The process of breaking down food for energy; like eating breakfast and having the energy to get through your morning. |
Cellular | Made up of cells, like tissues are made of cells. |
Endangered | Very few numbers of a species in existence. |
Hybrid | Living things that have parents that are quite different from each other, such as donkeys and horses. |
Crossbreeding | A process where closing related living things are mated to create a new species. |
Habitat | A home for an organism. |
Predator | The organism that eats prey. |
Mimicry | In nature, when a species looks like something else. |
Diversity | Variety. In the animal kingdom, this refers to a group of the same kind of animal in which there are lots of animals with different traits (like dogs, cats, etc..) |